


Love, Sweet Love

by tessafreakingvirtue



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One-Shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-14 07:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17504144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tessafreakingvirtue/pseuds/tessafreakingvirtue
Summary: A series of one-shots based on the Tessa/Scott in Heartbeat/Little Things.So fluffy you'll die.





	Love, Sweet Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series of one-shots based on Tessa and Scott's family in Heartbeat and Little Things. There is no real rhyme or reason to these stories, just a bunch of fluff to offset the angst I've got going on in Love Has Made Me a Fool. 
> 
> If you haven't read Heartbeat or its sequel Little Things and you're into Tessa/Scott fluff, I would recommend it. If you don't want to read those stories and just want to enjoy this standalone fluff, all you need to know is this:   
> Tessa and Scott have three kids: Ellie, Lucia, and Leo. If you want their backstories, I'm afraid you'll have to read the stories so as to prevent spoilers. 
> 
> These are the fluffy stories that make up their lives.  
> Enjoy... and I'm warning you, this is sickeningly sweet. I got a cavity writing it.
> 
> In this first chapter, the Virtue-Moir family gets a dog.   
> Yeah, I told you. Disgusting.

“Mama, please?” Lucia looked up at Tessa with dark eyes, her thin hair slipping into her face. Tessa reached out, brushing the wispy strands from her youngest daughter’s eyes. “Pleeeeeease?” 

“Luci,” Tessa smiled gently, her fingers cupping the little girl’s cheek. “I don’t know, okay? Daddy and I have to talk about it.” 

“Daddy already said yes,” Ellie chimed in, and Tessa looked up to see the six-year-old standing in the doorway of the den, watching her mother and sister with a tiny smile pressed across her lips. 

“Ugh,” Tessa let out a soft sigh. “Of course he did.” She held her hand out and Ellie crossed the room, snuggling into the space between Tessa’s side and the oversized chair she was curled in. “Listen. It’s a big responsibility, okay? You’d have to be responsible for walking, feeding, cleaning up after it.” 

Ellie tilted her head, looking toward her younger sister. The two children shared a glance before Ellie nodded.

“Okay.”

“Yeah, Mama, okay,” Lucia repeated. She had become a parrot, repeating everything Ellie said, soaking up every word and ensuring her voice was heard on every matter. 

“That’s a lot of work,” Tessa pushed, hoping to derail her children’s determination. “And Ellie, what about skating?” 

“What about it?” Ellie asked, shrugging.

“Well, we have to get up really early in the morning to get to your practices sometimes. And soon you’ll be competing, and then what will we do with a dog?” She raised her eyebrows at her older daughter, but Ellie appeared nonplussed. 

“We’ll take him with us,” she said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “We already have to take Leo and Luci; a puppy won’t be that bad.” 

“Hey,” Lucia frowned, her dark eyebrows furrowing. “I not bad. And Leo not bad.”

“She’s not saying you’re bad, Luci,” Tessa stroked the little girl’s hair. 

“I’m not saying they’re good, either,” Ellie remarked. Tessa shot her daughter a glare, but Ellie smirked. She was beginning to look more like Scott every day, and there were times when their personalities were so identical that she wondered if she and Scott spent secret time coming up with a routine just to throw Tessa off.

Tessa pulled her girls into her arms, hugging them close, smelling their strawberry shampoo and letting one hand stroke each of their backs. Her children’s arms went around her, and she closed her eyes, inhaling them, wanting to remember this moment of them being so small and loveable. It seemed like just yesterday it had been Ellie that was two, toddling around and grinning her wide smile. 

“I love you,” Tessa spoke, “and that is why I’m willing to talk to Daddy about this, okay?” 

Ellie pulled back quickly, grinning broadly. Tessa’s eyes scanned over her toothless smile, her heart aching at the gaps in her pink gums, signs that Ellie was slowly making the transition from little kid to big kid. The thought that Ellie’s permanent teeth would soon begin to grow in filled Tessa with a pain that made her feel both fiercely proud and indescribably sad. 

“What are you going to say?” Ellie was quick to ask, and Tessa hesitated for a moment. 

“I’m going to tell him that his children want a puppy and see how he feels about it.”

“Oh, I know how he feels about it,” Ellie offered. “He’s the one who told us to ask you.” 

_Of course he was._

“Is that so?” Tessa questioned, narrowing her eyes at Ellie. She nodded, still grinning. Tessa sighed, listening as the clock ticked, the quiet of mid-day settling around them. “Where are Daddy and Leo, anyway?” 

“Outside playing basketball,” Ellie offered. “Well, Daddy’s playing basketball. Leo is just chasing him around and trying to steal the ball.” 

“Stealing is bad,” Lucia announced, and both Tessa and Ellie looked toward her. 

“It’s not that kind of stealing,” Ellie tried to explain. “They’re playing a game.” 

Lucia blinked at her, wide brown eyes taking in her older sister’s wisdom. 

“Still bad,” she echoed after a moment, and Ellie sighed. Tessa offered her older daughter a gentle smile before squeezing out of the chair and pulling herself to her feet. She made her way through the den and to the kitchen, slipping out the back door and making her way down the porch steps to the back of their driveway. 

Scott was crouched, and it took Tessa a moment to realize that he was bent down to Leo’s level, his hands gently touching his son’s arms. Leo watched him with brown eyes that matched Luci’s, his skinny arms wrapped around a basketball that was nearly bigger than he was. 

Tessa took a few steps closer, smiling to herself as she attempted to hear her husband’s hushed words. 

“… and that’s how you play, okay? You take the ball, and you throw it, and you try to get it into the basket.” Scott raised an arm, his finger pointing to the net hanging above them. Leo’s eyes moved to follow his father’s direction before his dark eyes flicked back to Scott. 

“Now the problem is,” Scott was speaking again, his voice so soft that it made Tessa’s heart flutter with love, “that you’re stealing the ball from Daddy, and then you’re running. And Daddy can’t throw the ball into the basket when you keep running away with it.” 

Tessa slipped a hand over her mouth to cover the gentle laughter that threatened to blow her cover. The moment was too cute to spoil. Scott was competitive, and it didn’t matter if his competition was a professional ice dancer or his two-year-old son: he didn’t like to lose. 

“So here’s what I want you to do, okay?” Scott continued. “When I dribble the ball, you know, when I bounce it, you can catch it. But you can’t run away with it, okay? You have to let me get it back, so I can throw it into the basket and get a point. Can you do that?” 

Leo stood quietly for a moment, considered the ball in his arms, and then looked back up to Scott. 

“Yes, Daddy.” 

“Good!” Scott’s voice was high with excitement. “Good boy. Okay, you ready to play? Give Daddy the ball.” 

Leo blinked at the ball in his arms before offering it to Scott. 

“Thanks, buddy. Okay, now I’m going to dribble the ball. You have to try to knock it out of my hands, but don’t run away with it.” He spoke slowly, sweetly, and Tessa pressed her lips together, genuinely curious to see if his pep-talk had worked. 

Scott began to dribble the ball, and it took a moment, but Leo was moving like a flash of lightning, knocking the ball out of the air and away from Scott. His little legs ran after the ball, scooped it into his arms, and turned back to look at Scott. 

“Good! Okay, now throw the ball back to me!” Scott coached him. “Throw it as far as you can.” 

Leo seemed to consider this option before breaking into a grin. Rather than tossing the ball, he clutched it tighter in his arms and took off across the backyard, giggling hysterically. He raced around Scott, spotted Tessa, and dropped the ball before racing into her arms. 

“Mama!” He hit her legs, his little arms wrapping around her. “I play ball with Daddy!”

“I can see that!” Tessa bent to scoop him into her arms, Scott turning around to face her. 

“Interference!” Scott cried, his arms coming out in disbelief. “I just taught him to play, Tess. He was so close to scoring his first basket!” 

“You mean to helping you score a basket,” she teased, raised her eyebrows at him, shifting Leo on her hip. “I saw that whole exchange. You were taking advantage of your child to win a game you were playing by yourself.”

Scott’s lips parted in feigned shock, his hand coming up to touch his chest as if her words had pierced him. 

“I can’t believe you would accuse me of that,” he made his way closer to them. “Leo was having fun, weren’t you, buddy?” 

“I throw ball to Daddy and Daddy wins!” Leo bounced in her hold, throwing his arms into the air. Tessa smiled at her son, turning her head to narrow her eyes at Scott.   
“Daddy wins, does he?” 

Scott let out a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment before looking guiltily back at Tessa. 

“Okay, that’s it. I give up. I’m sticking to hockey.” 

“That’s what I thought,” she smirked at him, leaning in to catch his lips in a soft kiss. “You’re on a roll today, getting your children to do your dirty work for you.” 

“What do you mean?” Scott cocked his head at her. 

“I mean with the whole…” she glanced toward Leo, who was watching her intently, “d-o-g thing.” 

“I didn’t say anything about a dog!” He defended himself. 

“Doggy!” Leo cried out, “Daddy wants a doggy!” 

“Come on, man,” Scott cried softly, “You’re killing me here, buddy.” 

Tessa pressed her lips against Leo’s soft cheek, ruffling his hair with her fingers. She carried him to the porch, opened the door of the house, and let him slip out of her arms. Leo grinned back at Tessa before breaking into a run, disappearing around the kitchen island and out of sight. 

“Ellie, get your brother, please!” Tessa called, “Daddy and I are talking!” 

There was a slight hesitation before she heard the familiar sound of Ellie’s footsteps chasing behind the little boy’s, and then a victorious, “Got him!” 

Tessa leaned against the backdoor, turning her attention back to Scott. 

“Why are you getting their hopes up about a puppy?” She whispered to him, crossing her arms over her chest. “And why did you tell them yes before we even talked about it?”   
“It’s just a puppy, babe. Everybody likes puppies.” At her hesitance, he faked a gasp. “Mrs. Virtue-Moir! Are you telling me you don’t like puppies? I think this might be grounds for a separation.” 

“Of course I like puppies,” she replied after a moment, smiling. “I just… don’t like puppies who pee on white carpet. And white furniture. And white sheets.”   
Scott smirked at her, taking a step closer. 

“We have three kids, Tess, and yet, somehow your precious white paradise has survived this long. You really think one little puppy is going to throw this house into chaos?”  
He reached out for her, touching her cheek. She leaned into his touch, but continued to stare at him. 

“Yes, and all three of our children wore diapers when they’re potty-training.”

“That’s what puppy training pads are for,” Scott pointed out, his thumb stroking her cheek. He met her eyes, a soft smile slipping across his lips. “Come on, T. We’ve talked about this before. You know the kids would love a puppy. We’ve got a big backyard. We don’t have to worry about touring or anything like that. There’s no better time than right now.” 

She pressed her lips together, watching him. He was right, as much as she didn’t want to admit it. All three of the kids loved animals, and they adored Scott’s brother’s dogs. Ellie was beginning to seek out more responsibility, and had been talking about wanting to become a veterinarian/Olympic gold medalist. 

“Okay,” Tessa finally sighed, exhaling heavily. “We can look. But we have to really consider our options before we make any decisions okay?” She leaned into Scott’s chest, tracing her hand over his shirt. “I know how you are about these things. The first dog you see, you’ll want it. But please, for the kids’ sake, try to have some self-control, okay?” 

“Tess,” Scott gave her a knowing glance. “Please. I’m not the same guy I was ten years ago. I’m a dad now. I have self-control. So much self-control I’m even going to control myself from talking about it.” He raised his eyebrows at her as if he had made a brilliant point. “Okay?”

**

“Tess, look at him! Let’s take him home!” 

Scott was kneeling in front of a kennel, his fingers tangled in the chain-link fence. 

The object of his current affection was a beagle, its head tilted, studying Scott. Tessa glanced toward him, studying the dog. The dog blinked at Scott, yawned, and slid onto its belly. 

“He’s cute,” Tessa admitted, “but this is the fifth dog you’ve fallen in love with since we’ve been here. We can’t take them all home, Scott.” She shifted Leo higher onto her hip, glancing toward Ellie and Lucia who stood hand-in-hand in the hallway of the shelter. 

They had always talked about adopting a dog, not concerned with the idea of a purebred. One thing they had agreed on was teaching their children that the best things often came in unexpected ways; like finding a lonely mutt at a shelter, or being matched up with a skating partner at seven years old. 

“Mommy,” Ellie called, and Tessa turned her attention toward the little girl. Ellie’s attention was focused on a medium-sized dog, the fur on its chest and legs as white as snow with a matching muzzle and strip running up between its eyes. The rest of its fur was black, and it was huddled in the corner of the concrete cell, watching Ellie with huge, sad eyes. “Look at this one.” 

Tessa moved closer to the cage, tilting her head at the dog inside. As if it were copying her, it tilted its head as well, its tongue flopping out of its mouth.   
Ellie and Luci giggled, and Leo shrieked in joy. Tessa couldn’t help but to smile, and she touched Scott’s back gently with one hand, causing him to turn and look at the dog. 

“Hey, buddy! What are you doing in there?” His voice was soft, and he slowly slipped his fingers through the links in the fence, curling them to encourage the dog to move toward him. “You look pretty lonely.” 

“Oh,” they heard a voice speak behind them and turned, studying the face of a shelter employee. “She’s new. She only got here this morning. She’s been a little shy.” 

“How old is she?” Tessa asked, letting her eyes shift back to the dog. 

“By best guess we think she’s about seven months,” he informed them. “She was brought in by an older lady. Said her daughter passed away and she couldn’t keep her. She’s part Border Collie, so she’s probably pretty hyper.” 

“Oh,” Tessa glanced toward Scott. “Well she’s cute, but we have three young kids, so-”

“Border collies are great with kids,” the man offered. “And she’ll always keep you company on your morning run. Border collies also don’t mind the snow…” his voice faded, “or ice.”

Tessa smiled at him, turning to Scott. He raised his eyebrows at her. 

“Mommy, please,” Ellie looked up at her, her lower lip slowly protruding. “She looks so sad and alone.” 

“Ellie…” Tessa bit her lower lip, raising her eyes to Scott. “Scott.”

She was asking for help, begging him to distract Ellie long enough to break that look of absolute desperation in her daughter’s eyes. It wasn’t something Ellie did often, but when she begged like this, Tessa was helpless to deny her. 

She looked toward Scott, but immediately recognized that he would be of no help. His eyes were big and pleading, too, and rolled her eyes at him. 

“Oh, come on, you guys.”

Ellie squealed suddenly and Tessa looked back at the cage. The dog had emerged from her corner and was licking Scott’s fingers with her long pink tongue. Ellie went to reach into the cage, as well, but Scott stopped her, grasping her hand gently. 

“Wait, baby. We have to make sure she’s safe.” 

Ellie nodded and withdrew her fingers, both of them looking up to the shelter employee. 

“She’s had all her shots,” he nodded. “We have her papers, if you want to look at them.” 

Scott looked back to Tessa, and she nodded. Slowly, Ellie slid her fingers between the links in the gate, giggling as the dog’s tongue lapped at them. 

Leo and Lucia cried out in unison, but Tessa pulled Luci into her arms before she had a chance to stick her entire arm through the gate. 

“Can we open it up and see her?” Scott asked. The man moved toward the gate, unlocking it. The dog hesitated for a moment before slowly slipping out of its enclosure, her shoulders hunched and head down. Scott held out a hand and the dog sniffed it before letting out a playful yip and throwing herself against Scott. He laughed, and so did the children. Tessa smiled despite herself. 

She watched as he and Ellie stroked and kissed the dog’s dark, silky fur. Leo and Lucia were struggling in her grasp, desperate to touch the dog, and Tessa finally moved closer, Scott helping guide their hands to tangle in the soft fur. They both squealed in delight and Tessa smiled, glancing up at Ellie and Scott. 

“Can we take her home, Mommy?” Ellie asked, her hands coming together in an act of desperation. “Please?!”

“Yes, Mommy, please?” Scott asked after a moment, his hand resting against her back. She frowned at him. 

“I thought we were just looking.” 

“Yeah, well, we’re good at getting started on things ahead of schedule, don’t you think?” He asked, glancing at Ellie. She smiled despite herself. 

“Fine. But if she pees on my white carpet, you’ll be on your hands and knees cleaning it up. Got it?”

“She’s not going to pee on your carpet,” Scott promised, ruffling the dog’s fur. “Look at that face. Does that look like the face of a dog who would pee on your white carpet?” 

**

She did, in fact, pee on Tessa’s white carpet, and to his credit, Scott was right behind her with a wad of paper towels and carpet cleaner. He scrubbed until the stain was no longer noticeable, but Tessa watched with a growing sense of helplessness as the dog continued to sniff, following her nose from the den to the kitchen. 

Ellie and the twins raced behind her, squealing, and though the dog was mostly focused on exploring her new surroundings, she would occasionally turn, sniff one of the children, and give them a quick, approving lick. Each time it happened, they would shriek with joy and the dog would wag her tail as if she understood that she had done something right. 

“We need to name her,” Scott had said on the way home, glancing in the rearview mirror where Ellie sat in her car seat, one hand protectively resting on the dog’s head. 

“I think we should name her after a princess,” Ellie had suggested, squinting in concentration. “What about Rapunzel?” 

“Cinderella,” Lucia’s tiny voice had piped up. Tessa and Ellie had shared a glance. 

“Not Cinderella,” they both had said before smiling at one another. 

“Superman,” Leo had suggested. 

“She’s a girl, Leo,” Ellie had told him with the knowledge of a much wiser older sister. 

“Supergirl,” he had corrected himself. 

“London,” Scott had suggested, and Tessa had looked up at him. 

“London? Like where I was born?” Tessa had clarified. 

“Yeah, London, like where you were born. And like where Ellie was conceived.” He had grinned at her, and she felt her cheeks flush with the memory of that night. 

“What does that mean?” Ellie had asked, leaning forward in her seat. 

“Nothing,” they had said in unison, smirking at one another. 

Now, as London made her way around the house, Tessa stood watching, trying to convince herself they’d made the right decision to bring her home. She did love dogs; she _loved_ dogs. But their lives were already so busy, and the kids kept them on their toes constantly. Adding another creature to a house full of creatures seemed like such an intimidating step. 

“Look, babe,” Scott nudged her, as London curled up on the couch. “She likes your reading spot.” 

Tessa looked at her, frowning slightly. 

“But that’s _my_ spot,” Tessa protested lightly, and Scott laughed gently. 

“Maybe that’s why she likes it,” he suggested. “Because it smells like you. Hey, she’s not the only one who likes the way you smell.” 

Tessa side-eyed him before breaking into a grin. 

“Okay, missy,” Tessa finally sighed, sliding onto the couch beside the dog and allowing her fingers to stroke her silky fur. “You can share this spot with me, but you see that guy right there? He’s mine. The last time we brought another lady into our lives we had some trouble with her. You’re not going to cause trouble like that, are you?” 

She leaned in towards the dog, who lifted her head and sniffed Tessa before swiping her tongue over Tessa’s cheek. She then wagged her tail and shifted, laying her head on Tessa’s thigh. 

“I don't know, Tess," Scott teased her. "She is pretty cute."

Tessa stuck her tongue out at him. London yawned.

"Good girl," Scott leaned in, scratching London's head. Tessa watched him as he leaned in, capturing her lips in a soft, playful kiss before pulling back to grin at her. "You're a good girl, too. I guess."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm interested in what you as readers would like to see this family get up to. Please leave suggestions for one-shots you'd like to read about, and what you'd like to see them experience. Thank you!


End file.
